Oasis fans might be interested in a CD being given away with today's Sunday Times. "The Dreams We Have As Children" features 11 tracks recorded by Noel at a Teenage Cancer Trust gig at the Albert Hall. As well as a selection from the Oasis back catalogue there are 3 covers. Paul Weller joins Noel for The Butterfly Collector and All You Need Is Love, and there is a version of the Smiths' There Is A Light That Never Goes Out.

I heard the ads for that on Planet Rock earlier. I'll have to chat up somebody who gets the paper in order that I can chuck the CD into iTunes. The list of tracks sounds impressive and, by all accounts, the gig was a fine one.

To be fair to the newspapers, it's the music industry that's cottoned on to the promotional potential of enabling the newspaper publishers to give away samples of their musical product as a sales incentive. After all, it benefits both parties - the record companies and the newspapers. So which, exactly, is the ailing industry in question?

You can have mine with pleasure - I just wish they would stop giving us these CD's & DVD's and reduce the cover price!

The cover price would probably have to increase if they didn't.

I doubt that, especially if they cut down on the ludicrous number of sections!

Yes but you need content around which to wrap ads. So, with a "travel" section, the ad sales people can try and sell space to related businesses, health to health businesses, sports to sport, etc.

It's a fact that when a paper promotes a free cover-mount CD or DVD their sales go up substantially for that day and immediately after - especially if supported by an expensive Tv and radio campaign. They wouldn't commit to that if it didn't provide a pay back.

You can have mine with pleasure - I just wish they would stop giving us these CD's & DVD's and reduce the cover price!

The cover price would probably have to increase if they didn't.

I doubt that, especially if they cut down on the ludicrous number of sections!

Yes but you need content around which to wrap ads. So, with a "travel" section, the ad sales people can try and sell space to related businesses, health to health businesses, sports to sport, etc.

It's a fact that when a paper promotes a free cover-mount CD or DVD their sales go up substantially for that day and immediately after - especially if supported by an expensive Tv and radio campaign. They wouldn't commit to that if it didn't provide a pay back.

If you'd read my post you would see that advertising is down so they could do with fewer separate sections. In fact one good thing to come from this credit crunch is that there are fewer leaflets with the papers and magazines!

Look, all I was saying was I don't like the fact that papers give away these things, I didn't ask for a lecture

Who was giving a lecture? Jeez... some people are so touchy in this forum.

Helen May wrote:

If you'd read my post you would see that advertising is down so they could do with fewer separate sections. In fact one good thing to come from this credit crunch is that there are fewer leaflets with the papers and magazines!

Yes, but if you reduce the page-count and the space you also limit the ad sales execs' ability to sell ads. That, in turn, reduces revenue. So it's a downward spiral.

Anyhow, I like lots of sections in the broadsheets, even if there's one or two (eg: sport) which don't interest me.